About Paul

For the past 10 years I had been working freelance in my profession as a
building surveyor, often working long hours, up to 60 hours per week. This did
lead to me eating at irregular times.

In the last 18 months I have changed to permanent employment. This has
helped me get into more of a regular routine. My new job does involve a lot of
corporate entertainment, so I have to choose wisely at times.

I have been married for the past 18 ½ years, have two children, both girls,
aged 15 & 11. I have always done the cooking at home, which has mostly been
fairly healthy, hence the reason why both my children are fit and healthy.

My problem was always eating outside of home, and indulging in too much
alcohol in recent years as pressures of work built up.

Weight Loss History

Having been overweight for much of the last 35 years, I have never
personally followed any of the national diets. When I have chosen to lose
weight in the past, I have done so on my own, by reduction of food and calorie
intake.

After losing up to 2 stone in my previous attempts, I give up through
boredom. As with most diets you end up depriving yourself of those things you
like, so back on goes the weight lost, plus more.

I ended up a yo-yo dieter, but never got any real long-term success.

How being overweight has affected you…

As a fat person I now know I have missed out on so much, personally and
socially. A lot of my friends who are fit and healthy were always up to
something like five-a-side football. I was never fit enough to take part, so
missed out on a lot of fun.

Also, when on holiday I always avoided the beach as I never felt
comfortable showing my body off.

For the last 16 years I have never been able to dress how I would have
wanted, so always wore baggy clothes to try and disguise my size.

Always being overweight, I have suffered with low self-esteem and lack of
confidence.

Motivation to Lose Weight

Four years ago I was diagnosed with diverticular disease, a condition of
the bowel, which is possibly caused by poor diet. This lead to few bouts of
diverticulitus, which is a nasty infection in the bowel, often making me ill
for a week at a time. This got me down, but for a while made me put on more
weight as I turned to food for comfort.

In more recent times while on a routine visit to my doctors my blood
pressure was taken and was high, at 159/90. A few months after this, the
switch inside my head flicked. I was middle aged, fat and unhealthy. I didn’t
want to get ill, so knew I really had to start looking after myself. Getting
back to an ideal weight and starting to exercise was going to be the only way
forward.

How WLR Helps

Initially, in December 2006, I started to lose weight under my own steam,
by cutting out all the junk food and alcohol I was consuming.

By April 2007, this had lead to a 2st 10lbs weight loss. I got stuck for a
few weeks, and was on the point of giving up as I had done so many times in
the past, when I thought I would use the internet to find out how many
calories was in my own prepared food. Fortunately Google lead me to WLR, and
from that day on, I have never looked back. Over a period of 6 months, I
steadily lost another 4 stone 3lbs, to get to 12st 3lbs, one lb below the goal
set.

In my free trial, I immediately understood how exercise and a
balanced diet went hand in hand, and how my portion sizes has lead to me
eating more than I thought I was with my own prepared meals.

I quickly learnt that by exercising I could earn a lot more food, as WLR
worked out how many calories my exercise was worth.

I also learnt that I didn’t have to deprive myself of all those foods that
I liked. If I counted the calories accurately in my food diary, and they were
within my daily calorie quota, then I could have them without the worry of
weight gain.

I soon got the calorie balance right, and over the course of six months,
set at 2 lbs per week, I lost consistently each week to get to my goal.

The Best of Weight Loss Resources

Full use of all the facilities at WLR has lead to me having my own
nutritionist and personal trainer on hand 24/7. The exercise and food diary
has been invaluable, and being accurate with this daily has certainly been the
main contributor to my successful weight loss.

I have constantly found interesting and informative articles in the
research section.

The message boards have always been a source of inspiration and
motivational support with all the successful people on there.

Lifestyle Changes

Since losing weight I am a much happier and self confident individual. My
self-esteem has gone up immensely, and I have a wardrobe full of clothes that
fit and look good on me. I have even been told that I look 10 years younger,
which makes you feel really good about yourself and your achievement.

I have rediscovered my love of cycling. After my bike being in the garage
for best part of the last 10 years it has played a big part in my weight loss.
This time last year I would have been lucky to have been able to cycle to the
local shop under 1 mile away, now I can cycle up to 60 miles in a morning or
afternoon.

We had a really nice holiday in the South of France in the summer, and for
the first time in ages I felt comfortable in wearing a swimming costume and
sitting on the beach.

Typical Dinner – Now

I have also swapped high sugar and fat content snacks such as sausage
rolls, crisps and chocolate bars, for more fruit, nuts, and cereal bars.

Exercise Changes

In my early days of weight loss, I just walked briskly five times a week.

When I had lost half of my weight, summer was here, so I got my bike out.

As my fitness improved through walking and cycling, I decided to join a
local health and fitness club. Each month I had a personal plan worked out for
me, which got my fitness levels up as the weeks went by. The good thing was
that through not eating junk food and cutting right back on alcohol, I was
saving over £100 per month. This saving easily paid for my gym membership at £
49.00 per month. The rest of the saving went towards new clothes that were
needed.

Why do you think WLR has helped you lose weight where other diets have
failed?

WLR has been the only place to help me successfully lose weight. This is
totally down to the fact that it has re-educated my whole way of life -
recognising the importance of a balanced diet combined with regular exercise.
I have not had to eliminate any of my favourite foods. All through doing WLR I
have eaten my favourite Indian and Chinese foods, had fish and chips down on
the south coast, and eaten out many times.

Paul's Weight Loss Tips

Always be honest with your food and exercise logging. Fill your diaries out
daily. Try to plan ahead. It helps to see your food and activity plan for the
week ahead, forward planning has been key to my success.

Find an exercise you really enjoy, and can do anytime you feel like it.

Take a look at your diet, and swap for lower calorie alternatives where
possible.

Always look for ways of increasing your activity. For instance I now walk
the 3 mile round trip to town at lunchtime. Before I would either use the car,
or just sit in the office. I now walk to the local shop in my village, as well
as the local recycling centre to take the plastic bottles and papers.

Always work out how long it is going to take you to get to your goal, that
way you will not be fooling yourself. In my case, I knew I had best part of a
year ahead of me, and that really helped me to know that at the outset.

"I have to thank all those success stories of
others that gave me the motivation."

* Note: The success stories published on Weight Loss Resources are written by WLR members, past and present, telling their own stories in their own words. As you will see if you read more than one or two of them, everyone's story is different and they have reached their success from a variety of starting points and lost weight at varying rates. Individual results may vary.